Book Reviews 209 smuggling, and about changes in allegiance (normally Turkish subjects who took Austrian nationality). The student of the archival material contained in Professor Ilić’s book is also fully briefed on the gradual emigration of the inhabitants of and other places in : for political and also economic reasons, they left their Turkish-ruled homes and came to settle in . Apart from Belgrade, the following places in Serbia are mentioned as home­ towns of the immigrants: Sremčica, Borak, Palež, , Godiljevo, Godačica, Orašac, Sibnica, Ostružnica, Grabovac, Višnjica, , Jaružice, Guberevac, , Bre­ stovac, Valjevo, Poreč, Veliko Gradište, Niš, et al. Severa' documents also speak of Greeks who had left Macedonia and Epirus and settled chiefly in Belgrade and Zemun. To be pre­ cise, the following are mentioned as home-towns of these expatriates: Serres, Thessaloniki, Meleniko, Kozani, Katranitsa (Pirgoi), Servia, Klisoura, Siatista, Jannina, Moskhopolis and Korytsa. The Greeks who settled in Belgrade and Zemun were mainly merchants and turned their hands for the most part to the conveyance of goods between Turkey and Austria. The editor of the documents, Professor Ilič, underlines, in his detailed prologue, the part played by the various regions of Serbia in the trade in animals of the Erge centres of the Habs­ burg Empire. Animals were bought especially in the Serbian region of Šumadija and sold in the following market-centres of Austro-Hungary: Osijek, Kanjiža, Pest, Vác, Kecsemét, Sopron and Vienna. The evidence provided by these documents throws light in various ways upon a long period until now considered dark by historians of Yugoslavia. It would not, I think, be any kind of overstatement to stress that only three books of archival material recently published : Slavko Gavrilović, Prilog istoriji trgovine i migracije Balkan-Podunavlje XVIII i XIX stoleća [A contribution to the history of trade and migrations in the Balkan and Danubian lands in the 18th and 19th centuries], Belgrade, Serbian Academy for Sciences and Fine Arts (SANU) specialist publications, book DXXXIII, 1969; Radmila Tričković, Dva turska popisa Krajine i Kliuia iz 1741 godine (Mešovita gradja-Miscellanea 2, drugi deo) [Two Turkish census-lists of 1741 for the regions of Krajina and Ključ (Miscellanea 2, part two)], Belgrade 1973; and Professor Ilić’s present book: have succeded in depicting the historical past of Belgrade and of all Serbia during the 18th century in so clear a fashion, much more clearly than all previous Yugoslav historiography. It is in this that the importance of Beograd i Srbija u dokumentima arhive Zemunskog magistrata od 1739 do 1788 godine lies. The detailed prologue, the accurate summaries preceding the documents, the correct reading of the documents, which are written in the difficult Gothic script, and the exhaustive comments on the text, all testify to the value of the book and its author’s selfless labour. Mention should be made here of the great help given in the production of the book by Bo­ siljka Mihailovič, a staff-scholar of the Historical Archive of the city of Belgrade. Finally, I should like to give my best wishes to Professor Ilič for the speediest possible production of volume two of the documents, covering the period 1788-1804.

Thessaloniki I. A. Papadrianos Institute for Balkan Studies

Assa, Aharon, Makedoniia i Evreiskiia Narod (no publisher, Jerusalem, 1972) pp. 161.

The main thesis of this historical meander is that the histories of Israel and Macedo­ nia have many parallels and Assa states it as his intention to bring these out (p. 103). He claims

14 210 Book Reviews

that the “wide world” knows very little about Macedonia (p. 9), presumably his rationale for serving up so much very general information. However, by publishing the book in Israel in Bulgarian he cannot expect to reach much of the “wide world” or even the Israeli reading public. Given the level of the book it is perhaps best for him that the book appeared thus. This sketch is based on a very slender bibliography, some of Dubnov’s history, Mat- kovski’s study on the destruction of Macedonian (Skopiot) Jewry and a few other items which appeared in Bulgarian. Kashales’ 5 volume history of the Jews of Bulgaria was apparently not looked at (only an article of his in the “Bulgaria” volume of the Diaspora Encyclopedia is referred to), nor was Even-Tov’s History of the Jews in Yugoslavia, nor any of the many works in Hebrew and other languages on the Jews of Salonika. (Even if Assa were unable to cope with other languages one might expect some mention of the work in Bulgarian of Mezan from the 1920’s and 30’s). The vast majority of pages are devoid of any documenta­ tion which is as it should be since the material presented is in the main of such general know­ ledge as to require none. The text is largely a pedestrianly written, ill-planned, non-focused ramble through Ma­ cedonian and Bulgarian history, accompanied by brief forays into the history of the Jews of the area or global politics. To give but one example of the style: one early chapter ends with Alexander the Grat conquering the Middle East and coming to Jerusalem etc. (p. 20) and the next chapter begins (p. 21) “11 March 1943...” the day the Nazis deported the Jews of Skopje—with no transitional explanation. Assa’s lack of perspective can be perhaps illustrated by his exposition of the following point (p. 119): the great Jewish historian, Dubnov, had written something to the effect that martyrs contribute to the formation of a people’s national consciousness. This thought, of itself not too unique, nor particularly characteristic of Dubnov, better known as an oppo­ nent of the “Leidensgeschichte” approach tj Jewish history, serves Assa as a base for elabo­ rating the theory that were it not for the Holocaust in general and the loss of Macedonian (read Skopiot) Jewry in particular the Jewish people might not have made its way to the creation of the State of Israel. Positing a link between the Holocaust and the creation of the State of Israel is certainly no novelty, but the place, in Assa’s theory, assigned to Macedonian Jewry would be positively comic were it not for the horror of the whole subject. Not only were Jewish losses elsewhere in Europe so much greater but even in his region, in Greece (Salonika), the loss was about 20 times as great. Indeed Assa is 99% insensitive to one of most significant and intriguing aspects of the history of Macedonian Jewry, their interrelation with the historic cultures of the area, Greek, Slav and Turkish. Assa clearly identifies only with the Slavic sector. Greeks figure only in his book briefly in antiquity and in the Byzantine period. Salonican Jewry is mentioned very briefly as flourishing (pp. 28, 44) in the XVI century and re-appears again briefly (pp. 112- 115) to be murdered by the Nazis. The real gap in the historiography of the Jews of Mace­ donia, the absence of a work which would address itself to the question of Jewish life amid the various cultures, is not a gap which Assa has tried to fill; he apparently has no aware­ ness of its existence. Even with his apparent linguistic limitations there are works in Bulgarian which could have made him more alert to the problematics of Slavic Macedonian-Salonican relations (e.g. Snegarov’s book on Salonika and Bulgarian culture). Assa has not even given any significant compilation of historical data on Jewish life in the northern part of Macedonia, such as Mezan’s 2 part study “Jewry in Macedonia” Makedonski Pregled 1930. Rather, Assa at one or two points gives brief lists of rabbis active in the area. But he spends far too much time discussing general subjects: Bogomils, the Book Reviews in

Samuelid state, Cyril and Methodius, bandits, anti-Ottoman revolt, the Bulgarian nation­ al reawakening, the general course of World War II and German activities in Macedonia during World War II, without adding anything to our knowledge of these subjects. Some of Assa’s factual errors include: Hitler’s real name was not “Kikelgruber”(p.23). Assa tries to argue that traces of Semitic languages in Balkan languages come from Alexan­ der the Great’s expedition to the Middle East (p. 23). He asserts (hat Cyril and Methodius not only borrowed some Hebrew letters for the Cyrillic alphabet but also took the Hebrew practice of using letters as numbers (p. 26) (which was, by their time, an established Greek usage). What of Assa’s prime contribution to the literature—the lsraeli-“Macedonian” par­ allels? How unique and uniting are they? How precise are they? Both peoples are small, with an ancient history of long suffering and ensfuement (p. 6). Israel was recognized by the UN in 1947 as part of a wave of liberation from colonialism and Macedonia emerged after World War II also (p. 6). Both are near ti e geographic centers of their respective re­ gions and each is a storm center thereof (p. 10). The historic formation of both peoples be­ gan with ancient migrations to their present homes (p. 11). Both states suffered numerous invasions and Philip and Alexander of Macedonia were paralleled by David and Solomon [“ALSO FATHER AND SON” (p. 13 capitals in orig.)]. Such parallels of so generalized phenomena could easily be made between many states. When he gets into the XIX century Assa gets out onto thinner ice, as he moves into the period of national revivals. He asserts towards the end of the XIX century all humanity was awaking from a deep sleep (p. 54). It is not clear just what he means but a guess would be to the “sleep” of 1815-1848, which hardly brings one to the end of the century nor did the awak­ ening aifect all humanity. In this period of awakening the parallel between the two peoples “reaches a surprising coincidence. Two peoples without any real connection between them, simultaneously awake from their centuries-long lethargy of slavery...” (p. 55), the “Macedo­ nians” with armed struggle and the Jews with the call to return to Jerusalem. He continues “literally during the same years...” (p. 56) when the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe became enthusiastic over the Haskalah (Enlightenment) the Macedonian Slavic national revival—(many of the figures he mentions are Bulgarian) was also getting under way—the 1830’s-1850’s. The Jewish Haskalah had however begun at the end of the 18th century and by the 1840’s was moving into a more developed phase. The levels between the two move­ ments differed greatly. Assa points out that in 1867 Dimitri Makedonski was printing his “Bukvar”—alphabet instruction book; Jewish “maskilim” (“enlighteners”) had been grap­ pling for some years with reconciling advanced Western knowledge with their traditional Judaism, or altering the later in conformity with the former. Assa also asserts that the Ma- cedonian-Slav revival was aimed at checking assimilation to Hellenism and so was like the Haskalah (p. 56); as much of the efforts of the maskilim were aimed at making their fellow Jews fit better into 19th century Western Europe, Assa’s would-be parallel requires peculiar contortions. The appearance of major writers in both groups in the latter XIX century is again so general as to be safe—but to compare the Kresna Revolt of 1878 and the Bilu settlement in Palestine in 1880—as national gestures which failed but became significant in the national historical memory is far-fetched (p. 57). The plot thickens in the 1890’s when the parallel is found between the 1st Zionist Con­ gress and the creation of I.M.R.O.(pp. 69-72). The two organizations differ somewhat, says Assa, “in appearance but are absolutely identical in essence, in content and in their exalted 212 Book Reviews national strivings” (pp. 58-59). One can only express curiosity as to what would be the reactions of Mssrs. Herzl and Gruev to such a comparison. There are a few points of contact between “Macedonians” and Jews on which Assa elaborates: a Jew active in I.M.R.O. (pp. 69-72), relations betweenDimitr Vlahov and Zion­ ist leaders in 1911, when he as a delegate to the Ottoman parliament spoke in their favor against a measure desired by Arab landlords (pp. 86-87). The cooperation between the dis- t'nguished Israeli Slavicist, Prof. Moshe Altbauer, who edited the old Slavic text of the medieval Sinai Psalter in the Santa Katerina Monastery in the Sinai, and the Yugoslav “Ma­ cedonians” who published the work, was a serious scholarly achievement, unfortunately presented by Assa (pp. 120-122) amid a hodgepodge of material including the statement that Cyril and Methodius left for Moravia in 836 [sic] (p. 123) i.e., when one was about 10 and the other about 20. The last chapter “Macedonia and Israel” is a final plaidoyer for the “parallels” notion and includes such items as the fact that both peoples had to struggle for liberation during World War II, that all nations of the worlJ recognize Israel and Macedonia and that despite sharp po'itical conflict both continue to prove their political viability. The chapter concludes with a list of activities, shared by both, apparently uniquely: opening universi­ ties, writing a literature in the national language, establishing newspapers, radio stations (from former illegal resistance stations), orchestras and even—summer music festivals.

Russian and East European Research Center Mark Pinson Tel Aviv University

Henry Gilfond, Black Hand at Sarajevo. The Conspiracy that Plunged the World into War I, Indianapolis, Indiana, The Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1975, pp. xi+176.

The assassination of Franz Archduke Ferdinand and his wife in an obscure town of Sarajevo in June 1914 was treated in numerous studies between the two World Wars and again in recent years*.

Why, therefore, another publication covering the already overcrowded and much ana­ lyzed subject?* 345

♦Hertha Pauli, The Secret of Sarajevo: The Story of Franz Ferdinand and Sophie, Apple- ton-Century, New York, 1965, bibliography, pp. 300-304; Vladimir Dedijer, The Road to Sarajevo, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1966; Virginia Cowles, The Russian Dagger: Cold War in the Days of the Czars, Harper, New York, 1969, Chapter X, “Who Planned Sara­ jevo?” pp. 281-320; Paul W. Schroeder, “World War I as Galloping Gertie: A Reply to Joachim Remak”, Journal of Modern History, Vol. XXXXIV, 3, September, 1972, pp. 319- 345, numerous bibliographical footnotes; Hans Koning, Death of a Schoolboy, Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, New York, 1974; Dwight E. Lee, Europe’s Crucial Years, University Press of New England, Hanover, New Hampshire, 1975, pp. 370-401 ; Sidney B. Fay, After Sarajevo: The Origins of the World War, Vol. II, Free Press, New York, 1967; Rudolf Binion, “From Meyerlingto Sarajevo”, Journal of Modern History, Vol. XXXXVII, 2, June, 1975, pp. 280-316; F.R. Bridge, From Sadowa to Sarajevo: The Foreign Policy of Austria-Hungary, 1866-1914, Routledge, Boston, 1972; Immanueal Geiss, Ed., July 1914: The Outbreak of the First World War: Selected Documents, Norton, New York, 1974; Joachim Remak, “Sa-